(3) PS To prove they're big--not little--three piglet brothers race to pull off various pranks, from raiding the vegetable garden to submerging deep in the mud. In a funny surprise ending, Mama Pig praises her obstreperous piglets for their rowdy behavior instead of scolding them. The playful use of language ("Slip. Slurp. Slop"), and the exuberant, appropriately big illustrations add to the humor.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Rhyming text with lots of wordplay relates a dog's story of its household that grows as "new feet...arrived on the scene." Two legs of its owner become four legs as he marries, six with their baby, etc. Though initially wary, each two-legged arrival ultimately adds excitement for the four-legged friend. Silly dog's-eye-view illustrations capture much about the family--mostly from the waist down.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Cow Effie wants to win a ribbon at the state fair, so she lets her pig friend, Petunia, give her a new look, a new walk, etc. Readers may predict that Effie will get a ribbon--but they probably won't guess what it's for. The be-true-to-yourself message is served with an entertaining side-order of ham: Helakoski's acrylics never lose the story's comedic thread.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Henry Cole. In their third outing, the big chickens get distracted by a feed bag and find themselves on a bumpy truck ride into the city. Surrounded by strange noises, strange food, and strange animals, the chickens wonder if they'll ever get home. The text's message about not fearing the unknown is subtly delivered, and the ebullient illustrations reflect the chickens' frantic personalities.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Henry Cole. Feeling cooped up, the ever-anxious Big Chickens fowl tentatively decide to venture to the farmhouse. Finding it proves tricky: they mistakenly head toward barking dogs, a tractor, and wild horses. Cole's zany illustrations and the story's repetitive structure have the same appeal as in the first adventure, though this book does feel a bit redundant.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lee Harper. Sheep Woolbur does everything a bit differently: he runs with the dogs, cards the wool on his own body, and rides the spinning wheel. When his worried parents direct him to be like other sheep, he instead teaches others to be like him. While the text belabors the point, the woolly textured illustrations offer entertaining details.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca. The regular school bus is in the repair shop, and the substitute bus is too small, so driver Mr. Mathers stuffs the seventy-six students under seats, in overhead shelves, etc. Some readers will enjoy testing their addition and subtraction skills as Mathers (pun intended) loads and discharges kids; others may lose patience with keeping count. The crowded cartoon illustrations feature scared-looking children clinging to the roof of a tottery bus.

Reviewer: Nell Beram